The year that was 1998

The world was marching forward into a new millennium with a mix of excitement and fear. The world was changing, but then, when wasn’t it? For many reading this, 1998 was so long ago that they hadn’t yet been born. For some, they were so young they don’t have any memories of it. For others, 1998 still feels like yesterday.

The 1980s had already seen large advances and uptake of consumer electronics, and this trend continued into the 90s. By 1998 technology in the home was rapidly opening new frontiers for the general public, and ushering in a new age of information and entertainment. Internet adoption had grown to have 147 million users by December. The average speed was still 56Kbps however. To put that into perspective, if you were to try and download the 2017 video game Fortnite: Battle Royal (approx 16GB) at 56Kbps, it would take you over 55 days. Mobile phones were starting to become more common for the masses with Nokia releasing the 5110, one of the first mobile phones that had the game Snake playable on its 84×48-pixel monochrome LCD display. This was likely the birth of ‘mobile phone gaming’.

It seems primitive now, but Snake on the Nokia 5110 would change the world of gaming forever.

Titanic (released in 1997 but still showing in cinemas in 1998), directed by James Cameron and starring a 21 year old Kate Winslet and 23 year old Leonardo DiCaprio, became the first ever film to gross $1 billion. It also swept the 1998 Oscars, winning 11; a feat only matched once before (Ben Hur in 1959) and once since (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003). 

The highest grossing films of 1998 included not just one, but two films about the apocalypse via enormous asteroid; Armageddon and Deep Impact. It wasn’t all doom and gloom however, the list also included the animated family comedy A Bug’s Life, and the decidedly not-family comedy There’s Something About Mary. The first Hollywood adaption of Godzilla also would go on to become one of the most successful box office attractions this year, but the less said about this film, the better.

Titanic-mania carried over into the world of music, with the film’s original song My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion holding a place at the top of the charts alongside songs such as Aerosmith’s I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing (also a song from a film, in this case Armageddon) and Run DMC’s It’s Like That. I would be remiss not to mention The Offspring’s Pretty Fly (for a White Guy) which released in November and became iconic for the fantastic guitar riffs and genuinely funny lyrics which meant this song would be everywhere in pop culture. 

Titanic was a massive blockbuster, but not the only big movie of 1998.

From the silver screen to the small screen, television audiences welcomed back The Simpsons, which continued its ninth season in January 1998 with the episode All Singing, All Dancing. As The Simpsons would continue (and would do so for another two decades and beyond), another television juggernaut, Seinfeld, came to an end. No less than 76 million people tuned in to watch the final episode of the long running sitcom; making it the fourth most-watched series finale in history (Number 1 to 3 was M*A*S*H*, Cheers and The Fugitive).

In the real world, global politics saw some frightening moments. The Kosovo War began in February of 1998, an ongoing tragedy of the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990. On the other side of the world, nuclear armament continued to escalate, with India and Pakistan trading shows of force as they each tested nuclear weapons in an increasingly nerve-wracking game of brinkmanship. The Doomsday Clock was moved up to ‘9 minutes to midnight’ as a result. In Asia, North Korea adopted a policy of ‘Songun’ to officially become a military dictatorship. President of the United States, Bill Clinton ordered air strikes against Libya, and only three days later was impeached for the act of perjury during a sexual harassment lawsuit (this incident would provide stand up comics, sitcoms and late night talk shows with at least a full year’s worth of material).

‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, one of the biggest stars of Pro Wrestling history, wins his first world title. Boxer Mike Tyson was the guest referee.

Despite those and other serious world events, 1998 was a year that people would still find unity and excitement in the world of sport. The planet watched as France won the 1998 World Cup, defeating Brazil 3-0. The Winter Olympics were held in Nagano, Japan. The Denver Broncos defeated the Green Bay Packers 31-24 to win Superbowl XXXII. In baseball,The Yankees won the World Series, and in basketball the Chicago Bulls (with a team including Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman) defeated Utah Jazz to win the NBA Finals for an incredible sixth time in the 1990s.

The Chicago Bulls won the NBA finals a stunning six times in the 1990s.

The World Boxing Council Flyweight title was won in December by a relatively unknown twenty year old fighter named Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao would have a career that spanned until 2022, winning titles in eight different weight divisions (the only fighter in history who has done so). Mike Tyson, former undisputed heavyweight boxing champion of the world and at one point very likely the world’s most famous man, had his boxing license reinstated after it was revoked in 1997 for biting off part of Evander Holyfield’s ear during their rematch fight. He wouldn’t fight again until early 1999. Instead, Tyson was a special guest referee at Wrestlemania XIV on March 29th for Shawn Michaels versus ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin. ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin would defeat Shawn Michaels and begin his first ever reign as the World Wrestling Federation Champion.

Two companies that would become giants of the future world of technology were founded in 1998; Google Inc was founded in the USA, and from China; Tencent. And while these companies would eventually become important players in the video game landscape, the year of 1998 had its own video game giants; primarily Nintendo, Sega and for the first time, Sony.

Gaming changed an awful lot in the 1990s, it was a decade of incredible technological change and advancement. Read more about gaming’s journey through the last decade of the 20th century in my next blog post here;
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